


If I Could Have My Time Again

by Polomonkey



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Captivity, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Magic Revealed, Protectiveness, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 03:50:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9217433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polomonkey/pseuds/Polomonkey
Summary: Merlin and Elyan are captured by bandits. In his efforts to protect Merlin from their violence, Elyan makes a startling discovery.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Tavern Tales theme 'Do-Overs, Rewrites, Resolutions' and fills my hc bingo square 'trapped together'. I've been wanting to write Merlin/Elyan for aaages, they're both such cutie patooties. I hope you like it.

It’s cold and Elyan could stand the cold, he could even stand the dark and the damp and the chains, but they keep taking Merlin away. Taking him away and bringing him back bruised and bloody and limp, his face white with pain and his eyes nearly swollen shut.  
  
And Elyan can’t stand that.  
  
They haven’t laid a finger on him; they’re ransoming him as a knight of Camelot. As long as the price is right, he’ll be returned in pristine condition.

The King’s manservant is worth nothing in the bandits’ eyes. Except for what secrets of Camelot he can be persuaded to give up before they tire and dispose of him.  
  
Elyan tells their captors time and time again that Arthur will pay for Merlin’s release too. Screams it at them as they drag Merlin from the cell, straining against the chains that hold him useless to the wall. But the bandits don’t believe a servant could be worth anything to royalty.  
  
Arthur will set them straight. It’s been three days by Elyan’s count, enough time for Arthur to have received the ransom demand. Even now the response might be coming, the crisp instructions to leave both the servant and the knight unharmed.  
  
But it could be another day until that arrives and Elyan’s scared that Merlin doesn’t have that long.  
  
  
He does what he can, which isn’t much. Saves most of the water and bread they throw in to him for Merlin (who hasn’t been deemed worthy of rations of his own). Tears strips off his tunic to bandage the worst of Merlin’s cuts and gashes. Cradles Merlin’s head in his lap and rubs his chest in a futile attempt to keep him warm in the freezing cell.  
  
It’s not enough. They’re hurting him and they grow more reckless every day, judging by the accumulation of bruises on Merlin’s body. It would only take one hard blow to the head to kill Merlin and it doesn’t seem like the bandits would care either way. Elyan tries to goad them, tries to draw their attention onto him, but to no avail. It’s a dull life for a bandit, in between the raids and fights. They aren’t willing to give up on their latest form of entertainment.  
  
Merlin is mostly asleep or half conscious. The few snatched conversations they have consist of Elyan promising to protect him and Merlin warning him not to put himself in danger.  
  
“Arthur will come for us,” he said, voice strained but clear.  
  
He still says that but his voice is so weak now that Elyan can barely hear him.

 

On the third evening, there’s a longer gap than usual between the bandits’ visits. Long enough for Merlin to wake up, head in Elyan’s lap, squinting up through half closed eyes.  
  
“Have they got bored of me?” he says hoarsely. “Should I be offended?”  
  
It’s a pale imitation of his usual humour but Elyan raises a smile anyway.  
  
“I think you’re still their favourite. How do you feel?”  
  
“Fine,” Merlin says and then belies that instantly by shifting a little and letting out a cry of pain.  
  
“Merlin-”  
  
“I’m fine… s’just… my side.”  
  
Elyan has seen the damage there, the vivid bruising, the shallow knife marks. He doesn’t think he can look again without fury overwhelming him.  
  
He feeds Merlin the last of the water instead, waiting patiently while Merlin coughs, wiping away the little drops that run down Merlin’s chin.  
  
It hurts unimaginably, to see him like this. Elyan’s never been under any illusions when it comes to Merlin, he thinks he’s loved him a little since the day they first met. That loyalty, that kindness, that perseverance against the odds. He swore an oath to Arthur and Camelot and he takes it more seriously than his own life, but some days he wonders if he only truly stayed for Merlin. He’s been a wanderer since he was seventeen, moving from town to town, from lover to lover. He thought he’d be restless long before this. And yet at every turn there’s Merlin and there’s something endlessly new about him; something strange and intriguing that keeps Elyan guessing, that pushes thoughts of leaving right out of his head.  
  
And now they’re trapped and Merlin is in pain and Elyan can’t do a damn thing.  
  
“I can’t get you out of here,” he whispers, agonised, because it’s true. He’s plotted and he’s schemed and he’s raged but it’s come to nothing. He’s chained and weaponless and locked in a cell. He’s powerless to protect the one he loves.  
  
Merlin reaches up to pat at Elyan’s leg and even that movement exhausts him for a moment.  
  
“Arthur will come,” he says and it’s almost that exact moment that the door flies open.  
  
Elyan turns, hope rising in his chest, but it’s just three of the bandits, sword drawn.  
  
“Your friends are here,” one of them sneers. “And they don’t want to play by our rules. So I think you may have outlived your usefulness.”  
  
He’s talking to Elyan, not Merlin. The servant is forgotten again, it’s the knight they want now, for revenge on Arthur.  
  
Elyan squares his chin and looks death in the eye. The knights must be very close, though he thinks their salvation will come too late for him. His only hope is they’ll come in time for Merlin.  
  
“Any last words, sir knight?” says the bandit with the sword, unlocking the cell.  
  
“I might ask you the same question,” Elyan says coolly. “Since you will likely not survive the hour.”  
  
The bandit bares his teeth and steps forward. Merlin has struggled into a sitting position now, his breathing heavy. He moves in front of Elyan, hand held up.  
  
“Stay back,” he says, voice shaking. “I warn you.”  
  
The bandits laugh uproariously and Elyan gives Merlin’s shoulder a comforting squeeze.  
  
“Don’t draw attention,” he says in a low voice. “Delay as long as you can, until the others come. And Merlin…”  
  
There’s a lot of things Elyan would do differently if he had his time again. He’d have been there for Gwen when she needed him. He’d have come back to see his father before he died. And, he realises now with a sudden clarity, he’d have told Merlin how he felt.  
  
There’s no time now, none at all. So he just presses a kiss into the back of Merlin’s head, fierce and tender.  
  
“Tell Gwen I love her,” he whispers. “Tell them all. And tell yourself, especially. Because I do.”  
  
Merlin half turns his head at that, his eyes wide. Elyan just nods and smiles and gently moves Merlin out of the way.  
  
The bandit advances, sword pointed to Elyan’s heart.  
  
Elyan closes his eyes.

And then opens them again, as three mighty thumps sound. He doesn’t understand what he’s seeing for a moment. All three bandits are on the ground, unmoving. But there’s no knight at the door, no hidden assailant that’s saved the day for them.  
  
There’s only Merlin, breathing heavily, his eyes slowly fading back to blue from gold.  
  
Elyan draws in a deep breath and then another.  
  
So many things make sense now. It slots together like one of Gaius’ prized puzzle games and Elyan can only think himself a fool to have never seen before.  
  
“Are you angry?” Merlin says and his voice is very small. He’s slumped up against the wall, as though the burst of magic has sapped the last of his strength.  
  
“Yes,” Elyan says slowly. “Very angry. That you used it for me now and not for yourself three days ago when you were being hurt.”  
  
Merlin’s face crumples.  
  
“I didn’t know… I thought you might react…”  
  
“Never,” Elyan says vehemently. “It’s part of you. Nothing that’s a part of you could be wrong.”  
  
Then suddenly Merlin’s launching himself into his arms, pressing his face into Elyan’s neck and letting himself be held. Elyan can feel Merlin’s heart rabbiting in his chest, can hear his quick panting breaths. He kisses the top of Merlin’s head, makes soothing noises, whispers gently about how everything will be alright now, how Merlin doesn’t have to be alone with his secret any longer.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Arthur and the knights make it down less than five minutes later. Elyan meets them on the stairs, having unlocked his chains with the dead bandit’s key. Merlin in his arms, too weak and injured to walk. Arthur goes pale when he sees them and immediately takes Merlin off him. Then Gwaine tries to pick Elyan up, which is an idea that gets very short shrift.  
  
They make camp not far from the bandits' hideout, since there are none left alive to threaten now. Elyan spins some yarn about him and Merlin distracting three bandits long enough to knock them out and no one probes much further. They’re all too focussed on Merlin. Percy ends up being the one to strip him down and tend to his cuts and bruises because Arthur and Gwaine are too angry and shaken to sit still long enough.  
  
Elyan stays by Merlin’s side, holding his hand and occasionally stroking his hair as he hisses in pain. Later on, when they’ve done all the mending they can, he props Merlin up enough to feed him a little stew, going as slow and steady as he did in the cell. Merlin keeps looking at him, eyes so big and full of trust that it makes Elyan’s heart clench.  
  
They don’t get a chance to talk until everyone’s bedded down for the night. Elyan arranges their bedrolls together, citing the need to share body heat. No one objects, they seem to understand that Merlin and Elyan want to stay close after such an ordeal.

Merlin folds his body into Elyan’s straight away but Elyan can’t relax.  
  
“What I said before,” he whispers into the darkness. “When I thought that I would die…”  
  
“Did you mean it?” Merlin says, turning his face to Elyan’s. Elyan can just make out his features in the light of the fading fire; his gaze as sharp and keen as ever.  
  
“I did,” Elyan says honestly. “But I don’t want you to feel a sense of obligation. I’ll keep your secret no matter what. I’m not… not expecting anything in return.”  
  
It’s embarrassing to even have to say such things but Elyan wants to be absolutely clear. His discretion comes with no conditions.  
  
“Thank you,” Merlin says and Elyan nods, preparing to turn over and create a little distance between them. “But what if I want to give something in return?”  
  
“There’s no obligation-”  
  
“Not out of obligation,” Merlin says, moving closer. “Out of love. And desire. And friendship and more and…”  
  
He presses his lips to Elyan’s, a sweet dry kiss.  
  
“Merlin, I…”  
  
“I thought you’d never come to me. I could feel you looking but you wouldn’t say a word. And Arthur said you were too chivalrous, I’d have to go to you myself-”  
  
“Arthur knows?” Elyan says weakly, his head spinning.  
  
“Only ‘cause Gwen told him,” Merlin says and Elyan squirms in both pleasure and abject embarrassment.  
  
Mostly pleasure though. Especially when Merlin kisses him again, and doesn’t draw back this time.  
  
  
  
They wake up curled into an embrace, bodies intertwined. Arthur rolls his eyes and Gwaine teases and Percy smiles and all of them look terribly pleased.  
  
Elyan tells them to mind their own business but he can’t hide his grin. Merlin just snuffles happily. He looks peaceful somehow, despite the bruises on his face. Like a weight’s been lifted off his mind, or maybe more than one.  
  
They ride together that day, Elyan’s hands round Merlin’s waist, holding him steady. Elyan thinks about his travelling days, and the people he’s met, and the ones he chose to leave behind. About the magic he’s seen before in different lands and about the magic Merlin can show him now.  
  
But mostly he thinks about his room in the castle, and how it will be big enough for two with a few small adjustments. And how something tells him he won’t be moving on any time soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
